Redblacks counting on QB's experience to be advantage against Alouettes

Thomas DeMarco and Danny O’Brien spend a lot of time looking as if they’re playing charades, hands and arms waving frantically as they signal plays to teammates on the field.

That has been pretty much the majority of their contribution to the Ottawa Redblacks during the 2015 Canadian Football League season as DeMarco and O’Brien have combined to throw just 31 passes during blowout road losses to the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos.

There have also been two trick-play tosses by slotback Brad Sinopoli, but the other 433 Redblacks passes have come from the right arm of veteran quarterback Henry Burris, whose 3,611 passing yards lead the league, just as the team ranks first with 3,718.

“He’s 40 years old, and he’s here for a reason,” DeMarco said Wednesday. “We tried to break him in half in meetings and it won’t work, so he just goes out there and does what he does.

“He’s a great guy to learn from. You just know that it doesn’t matter what kind of hits he takes. He prepares himself as a professional athlete and does the things necessary week to week, and you just know he’s always going to be there.”

O’Brien credited Burris for being tough and the offence installed this year by new co-ordinator Jason Maas for providing quick pass options that reduce the number of hits Burris receives. Plus, O’Brien said, “If you play into your 40s, you’re doing something right on the field.”

Burris — named Wednesday as Shaw CFL Top Performer for September — Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell and Hamilton’s Zach Collaros are the only quarterbacks to start every game for their clubs this season. But Collaros is done for the year after injuring his right knee in the Tiger-Cats’ last game.

In contrast, the Redblacks’ defence has faced four of the league-high total of five quarterbacks who have thrown passes for the Montreal Alouettes in 12 games. Rookie Rakeem Cato will get his second start against the Redblacks at TD Place Thursday night.

Cato is 4-4 as a starter, but hasn’t started since Aug. 27 against the Tiger-Cats. He came off the bench in relief of Jonathon Crompton on Sunday and provided a second-half spark, but the Alouettes still lost 33-21 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Cato threw for 303 yards and one touchdown against the Redblacks on Aug. 7, but he also tossed a couple of costly interceptions. Burris had 323 yards passing, two touchdowns and no interceptions that night as the Redblacks won 26-23. That result represents the difference between teams that are 7-5 (Ottawa) and 5-7 (Montreal) going into the last third of the 2015 schedule.

“I made two mistakes in the red zone and cost us, without a doubt, six points, and that determined the game. We lost by three points,” said Cato, a 23-year-old who was five when Burris cashed his first CFL paycheque in 1997. “I believe without my two turnovers in the red zone, that’s an easy win.”

Like most young quarterbacks, Cato would probably also benefit from watching what Burris has done with physical training and healthy diet to extend his career. On Wednesday, the league’s oldest non-kicker added to that list by emphasizing that experience had taught him when and when not to open himself up to hits from defenders with ill intentions.

“You have to be smart out here,” said Burris, who also ranks 16th with 211 rushing yards and 34th on the career rushing list with 5,512 yards, just 26 behind Hall of Fame running back Dave Raimey.

“Quarterbacks are paid to be smart, not to be tough,” he added. “We get judged on how we deliver the ball and the decisions that we make. It comes down to making sure I do a much better job because we are the type of team that can win a lot of games here and I want to make sure I’m out there and giving us our best chance to be successful.”

Burris will also step on the field Thursday night 132 yards shy of 59,000 for his career, which began in 1997, and just 97 behind the 3,708 he compiled in the Redblacks’ first season.

“His spirit and his mind were in the right place,” head coach Rick Campbell said. “This year, we’ve got him in a place where he has got some good reads and been doing his thing, and we’ve got some receivers that have stepped up, have made plays, and then we’ve had continuity on the O-line. All that stuff has helped.”

Game notes: Redblacks wide receiver Matt Carter (concussion) and slotback Khalil Paden (knee) have had their memberships on the six-game injured list renewed. … Defensive lineman Vincent Desloges was activated from the practice roster, replacing offensive lineman Matt Albright, presumably to help out on special teams. … The Alouettes signed free-agent linebacker Henoc Muamba on Wednesday, but coach and general manager Jim Popp said the former Blue Bomber hadn’t passed a physical exam yet and wouldn’t be available Thursday. Montreal’s next game is on the Thanksgiving holiday Monday. … Thursday’s game was not a sellout as of Wednesday.

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